With Green sidelined, Warriors get blasted
Bucks run it up at will as Curry has to leave game early with injury
OAKLAND » Is Draymond Green the Warriors’ most important player?
It seems well established that either Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant would be the best Warriors’ candidates to win regularseason MVP. Presuming the Warriors win their fourth NBA championship in the past five years, the nod will likely go either to one of those two.
But as the Warriors experi- enced in their 134-111 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday at Oracle Arena, no one can fully replace the unique qualities that make Green such a valuable All-Star on a team full of them. The Warriors had their first home loss of the season in what marked their worst defeat of the year tracing back to a 20-point blowout to Oklahoma City on Feb. 6.
Green stayed sidelined with a sprained right toe and foot, leaving the Warriors without a versatile, physical and intense defender they would need to defend Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. He finished with 24 points, while going 7 of 16 from the field and 10 of 11 from the free-throw line.
“There’s not an ingenious scheme that we are going to come up with,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before the game. “It’s having the discipline to have multiple efforts on the same play.”
The Warriors could not keep
that discipline without Green’s presence.
The Warriors started second-year forward Jordan Bell, but he collected two early fouls. Early in the second quarter, Antetokounmpo plowed his way past Alfonzo McKinnie for a two-handed dunk. Warriors forward Kevon Looney contested Antetokounmpo inside and from the perimeter on the last two possessions in the first half, but he also became overwhelmed at other times with the whistles and Antetokounmpo’s 6-foot-11, 242-pound frame.
On other plays, Antetokounmpo swiped the ball away from Curry, Warriors guard Klay Thompson and Durant and drove to the rack almost anytime he wants.
“They are going to attack coming downhill, spread the floor and swing the ball,” Kerr said beforehand. “You have to be able to rotate once, then rotate again and then rotate a third time and then you have to box out. You have to do that all over and over and over again.”
• The Warriors could not do that for reasons beyond Green’s absence and Antetokounmpo’s dominance.
Both Curry and Durant struggled with their efficiency. Curry had 10 points on a 5- of-14 clip and 0- of- 4 mark from 3-point range in marked the second consecutive game he shot below 35 percent from the field. He missed the entire fourth quarter because of a left abductor strain. Curry landed awkwardly after contesting Eric Bledsoe’s lob with 6:49 left in the third quarter. After showing some discomfort, Curry stayed on the floor for the rest of the third quarter.
Durant had 17 points on only 6- of-15 shooting, while committing six turnovers. That marked a stark contrast from his season average when he averaged 27.7 points on 56.5 percent shooting. The Warriors received some help from Thompson, who had a team-leading 24 points. As for the bench — different story. Reserves Jonas Jerebko and McKinnie shot a combined 1 of 10.
Meanwhile, the Warriors had no solutions on stopping most of Antetokounmpo’s teammates. The Bucks’ Eric Bledsoe (26 points), Malcolm Brogdon (20) and Khris Middleton (17) all cracked double figures. Kerr called time three separate times after the Warriors failed to get back on transition defense.
The Warriors had no solution for Green’s absence, not even while leaning on their three other All-Stars.
• As he processed the news, Kerr conveyed both empathy and frustration. Another mass shooting occurred, the latest at a Thousand Oaks bar that killed 13 people, including the alleged gunman. Kerr, who has spoken out on gun violence anytime an incident has happened, took the microphone once again.
Kerr has argued about the need for stronger gun control in the past year after mass shootings in Las Vegas, at both a high school and church in Texas and at a high school in Parkland, Florida. Kerr also echoed those sentiments following the shooting at the Pittsburgh synagogue.
“I just feel devastated for the victims,” Kerr said. “I read a lot about it today. It’s just horrifying and so sad for the families involved and the young people that lost their lives,” Kerr said. “It’s devastating for everybody.”